Indian Ocean is surrounded by Asia to the north, Australia to the east and Africa towards west. It meets Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean in the south but it extends to Tropic of cancer in the north.
Shape and Size. The Indian Ocean has a compact shape. It is the third ocean in order of size. It is narrow in the north and broad in the south.
Depth. Indian Ocean's depth ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 meters in 60% of the area. Its average depth is thought to be about 4,000 meters.
Islands. The islands can be divided into three parts:
(I) Medium Sized Islands. Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Java, etc.
(II) Small sized Islands. The Andaman, Nicobars, Reunion, Socotra, Zanzibar, Comoro, Mauritius, Kerguelen, etc.
(III) Tiny Islands. Chagos, Maldives, Seychelles, Amarantes, Providence, Cocos, St. Paul, Diego Garcia, etc. Marginal seas are Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Andaman Sea, etc. Very small marginal seas are the gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Cambay etc.
Continental Shelf. The breadth of the shelf is not the same everywhere. Shelf is the broadest in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It extends to 600 km. in these areas but is about 159 km. in the east. It is narrow near Antarctica, Australia and Indonesia. Africa has a medium sized shelf.
The Central Ridge. Like the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a central ridge exists in the Indian Ocean but it comparatively broad and less deep.
It has various names at different places. Some islands like Laccadive, Maldives, etc., are situated on the northern part of the Central Ridge, St. Paul Island and Chagos stand on its middle section. The southern part of the ridge is very wide and is called Amsterdam St. Paul plateau.
Basins, Deeps and Trenches. There are few deeps and trenches and some small basins. Some important basins are those of the Oman Arab, Somali, SW. Madagascar, Natal, Agulhas, Andaman, Cocus-Keeling, etc.
Marginal Seas. There are very few marginal seas in the Indian Ocean. The largest are the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
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It has various names at different places. Some islands like Laccadive, Maldives, etc., are situated on the northern part of the Central Ridge, St. Paul Island and Chagos stand on its middle section. The southern part of the ridge is very wide and is called Amsterdam St. Paul plateau.